Police at the scene of Leroy James's death in Enfield. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Police are appealing for help to find the killer of a 14-year-old boy who was stabbed to death at a park in Enfield, north London.

Officers said the crime had no apparent link to gangs.

Ambulance crews and police were called to Ponders End recreation ground, on the northern edge of London, at around 5.30pm on Wednesday. They found Leroy James lying fatally injured next to a wall in the centre of the park. Attempts to resuscitate him failed.

Local teenagers described Leroy, from nearby Edmonton, as a "good lad" who played sport in the park with friends and did not get into trouble. Police echoed this.

Leroy's father, also called Leroy, said his son "will forever be remembered" and that he was "just trying to keep sane" as he attended the scene of his murder.

When asked how his son would be remembered by his friends and family, he said: "I can't explain for his friends, but he will forever be remembered by me."

Speculation about any gang connection to the stabbing was "unhelpful", Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode, leading the investigation, said. "There's certainly no evidence that this was gang-related," she added.

Officers were being helped by Leroy's friends but were seeking more information, she said. "People who were there will know who has done this," she added.

"We want to hear from anyone who was in the park at 5.30 and can help us … There will be a lot of people who were in the park and a lot of talk in the community. We plead with people to come forward."

Police were talking to Leroy's family and "we are really sharing their grief", she said, adding: "He was a 14-year-old boy who didn't deserve to lose his life. He was a young man with his whole life ahead of him … and didn't deserve to have his dreams and aspirations taken away."

The recreation ground was sealed off on Thursday morning, with the gate guarded by two police community support officers.

The murder scene, a basketball court, was ringed with tape, while a forensics tent stood where the body was found. Officers wearing white suits and masks could be seen examining the scene. Others were making house-to-house inquiries.

A teenager, Roxy Bagun, who lives on the other side of the park, said she knew Leroy as someone who played football and basketball there with friends.

"He was a good lad. I never saw him get into any trouble. They were sweet boys. He just hung around with kids his own age. His friends are so sweet and innocent."

She said she had seen Leroy's father arrive at the park on Wednesday evening. "His dad was in bits, crying and crying and crying. I just didn't know what to say to him."

Staff and customers at the Zua barber shop, around the corner from the park, said they had heard sirens and an air ambulance. "We thought that something had happened," the owner, who did not wish to be named, said. "I've been here about seven years and this is the first time I've heard of something serious happening. The kids here are good kids."

Darren Griffiths, who lives in a flat backing onto the recreation ground, said he had seen police taping off the area at 5.30pm.

"I knew it was something fatal," the 39-year-old father of one said. "It's normally peaceful around here. They've just built an outside gym here which is where the local kids hang out and where it's taken place. Last week we had the kids walking through the park from the riots, but apart from that it's quiet."

Leroy's death is the 10th fatal stabbing of a teenager in London so far this year, coming less than a week after a 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Ilford, east London, in what was believed to be a fight at the end of a party.

Enfield, which has significant areas of deprivation alongside streets of comfortable suburban homes, experienced a night of riots and looting earlier this month. It spread from the town centre towards Ponders End to the east.